Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 19

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

Lutheran Synodical Conference, 1958 19

to do (I refer to the contemplative), the other not leave undone
(the practical).

What has been said about learning applies with equal force
to the great experiences of Christian living — repentance, to cite
an example. Repentance can be looked on in a utilitarian way:
Repent, otherwise your sins will not be forgiven. Repent, other-
wise you will suffer misfortune. Repent, otherwise God may
plunge your country into a depression or a war. Repent, other-
wise your way of life, your civilization, your church may suffer.
“This does not mean that repentance does not bear social fruits,”
wrote Reinhold Niebuhr in a recent article entitled “Utilitarian
Christianity.” “It does mean that repentance practised for the sake
of such fruit is a bad kind of magic. Christian faith calls for
a complete change of mind not because repentance is socially
effective, or individually effective for that matter, but because
the mind is out of harmony with reality.” True repentance is
born out of sorrow for sin and love for God.

The same holds true for the application of Law and Gospel
in sanctification. C. F. W. Walther gave a_series of 39 lectures
and formulated 25 theses on this subject. They are collected in
the volume The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel,
surely an instance of pure theology. Listen to his 23rd_ thesis
(p. 381):

The Word of God is not rightly divided when an attempt is made

by means of the demands or the threats or the promises of the

Law to induce the unregenerate to put away their sins and

engage in good works and thus become godly; on the other hand,

when an endeavor is made, by means of the commands of the

Law rather than by the admonitions of the Gospel, to urge the

regenerate to do good.

Now a utilitarian would ‘say: This sounds rather too much
like hairsplitting by a saint in an ivory tower. In the practical
work of running a congregation and collecting the necessary money
for missionary purposes, it is often necessary to put on pressure,
to apply the Law and preach fighting sermons with plenty of
hell-fire. If this produces results, why worry too much about
motives? Well, it was reasoning like this which finally led little
by little to the financial abuses in the church at Luther’s time.

We are therefore on safe ground in insisting on the primacy
of sound theology in our church. In fact, our synods have always
stressed the study of the Word and the purity of doctrine with
complete disregard for utilitarian slants. Otherwise we might
often have toned down certain doctrines unpalatable to outsiders.
Luther gave us the cue for such a policy when he declared that
the teaching of correct doctrine is more important than teaching
correct morals, because doctrines determine morals. The early
history of our synods helped to establish this primacy of dogma.
Many of our forefathers, perhaps the most of them, came to this
country because of doctrinal difficulties in the homeland. In Saxony
the rulers were under the domination of rationalism and tried
to suppress Lutheranism. In Prussia a king attempted to merge
the Lutheran and the Reformed churches. In this country, where
there wasn’t too much concern about church doctrines and where
the variéus denominations were very busy missionizing and pros-
elytizing, many of the Lutheran immigrants might have lost their